When you're from a place as unique as Oregon, it can be a complete culture shock when you relocate to the heartland for college. If you have a friend from Oregon who goes to school in the Midwest, these things probably go through their heads.
1. The water tastes so different you almost question whether or not it really is water.
I can't believe it's water! Or is it? Since when does water come in different flavors? It definitely makes drinking from the tap an unprecedented challenge at first. Apparently the taste comes from the "lime" in the water due to a large amount of limestone present in the midwest. Who knew buying Brita filters would become a necessity.
2. Sales tax is a real thing.
There's no sales tax in Oregon! So whatever the price tag says, that's what you pay. Unless you end up moving out of state and suddenly you realize you need to fork over seven percent more than what you thought you'd be paying. This just ends up being kind of inconvenient (especially when you're a broke college student who needs to save every penny you have).
3. You have to pump your own gas.
People have literally laughed at me when I tell them I don't know how to pump gas, but that's not really our fault back home. We learned how to drive with gas attendants doing all the work for us. It's also a reason why I don't borrow anyone's car on campus; something very bad would happen. Maybe one day I'll learn.
4. Your chain restaurant options just expanded.
You're pretty convinced won't survive without Burgerville or Café Yumm, but that doesn't mean you still can't find reliable chain restaurants where you can eat your feelings. There are places with names like Steak & Shake, Cracker Barrel and Culver's, names you've probably never heard before. Don't be afraid to try though, I might even be willing to say a steakburger from Steak & Shake is up there with the old faithful Tillamook cheeseburger from Burgerville.
5. It's flat.
When you're so used to living in mountains and hills, the Midwest looks like a pancake that got stepped on. The driving here is probably way easier than back home (but how would we know, we can't drive since we can't figure out the gas pumps), and the sunsets look extra pink on a clear evening, but there isn't much to look at on long highway drives. Which makes me think of my next point...
6. You find yourself missing nature everywhere.
Okay, I know that there are pretty places in the Midwest where you can take walks, kayak and rock climb. It's just a totally different type of nature back home that Oregonians are used to. When you go to school in the Midwest you really miss being surrounded by Douglas firs everywhere you go, driving along US-26 to the coast, hiking Mount Hood, skiing Bachelor, scaling Dog Mountain. I could go on.
7. There are REAL SEASONS here.
In Oregon we usually have two seasons: rainy and chilly, and about 30 days of sunshine. But when you're in the Midwest, you get seasons like you see in the movies! Like the seasons you learn about in your middle school earth science textbooks. Catch us rolling around in the fresh piles of fallen leaves and galloping through the snow.
8. "Oh my gosh, so do you watch Portlandia?"
This is usually the second question I get asked while I'm here at college and meeting new people. To answer your question, no. Why watch a show about Portland when you actually live in Portland. Also, not everyone from Oregon is from Portland (Bend? Eugene? Hello?) and not everyone is sitting around watching an exaggeration of where we're from.
9. No matter how much fun you have at college, it is so good to come home.
Going to college in the Midwest has its perks, and it let's me see a whole new part of the country that I never grew up in. But even though I've met awesome people here and have grown to enjoy my time here, nothing beats that feeling of touching down in PDX and walking across that green carpet again. We love where we're from.
#PNW
